All tagged private

Private Prayer and Public Worship

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Prayer in Church

This morning let’s discuss experiencing private prayer during times of public worship. I have attended many churches during my life and have felt varying degrees of private prayer being welcomed during a service. On the one extreme I have prayed loudly and demonstratively beside Pentecostal brethren, prayed private prayers in a more subdued manner in my current church, and attended "high church" in Churches where very little private prayer is evident or encouraged. However, in each case private prayer does occur… it simply erupts from embattled souls across the sanctuary as believers adorn themselves in the armor of God and enter into personal states of worship, thankfulness, and distress.

Praying in Secret, and Working in Privacy

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Secret Prayers

Are our prayers private conversations with God, or are they like public meetings, and announcements, performed as if we were politicians who must hold every discussion in a public place? Praying in secret is more than just keeping our faith hidden from the world, it is maintaining it as a private relationship with God that is not lived in public so that we would receive accolades from others; no, we are meant to please God alone. If those about us say “look at this man who shows little faith!”, and they say this because they are not privy to our quiet prayers and personal relationship with God, then count this as a blessing.